Brandon Zerk-Thatcher says his confidence is growing amid an impressive run of form for Essendon VFL.
The promising young defender was one of the Bombers' best in Sunday's win over the Northern Blues, accumulating 21 disposals, 10 marks, four tackles and two rebound 50s in the 41-point victory.
It marked another step forward in the development of the 20-year-old, who signed a two-year contract extension in March.
"I’ve been focusing a lot on my footwork, and when I go up for marking contests to take the ball out in front rather than going behind," Zerk-Thatcher said.
"I managed to play alright and take a couple of marks – as a defensive six though we played really well.
“The ball was coming (into our defensive 50) quite a fair bit in the first half, so for us to be able to stand up and repel that was really good.”
Zerk-Thatcher has been working hard on his positioning in marking contests. (Photo: AFL Media)
Since returning from an ankle injury in round three of the VFL, the 195cm key defender has averaged 13 disposals and six marks.
But more telling of his continual growth, Zerk-Thatcher has recorded an average of 16 disposals, eight marks and three rebound 50s from his last three games, including a game-high 11 marks against Richmond in round eight.
“I think I’ve slowly gotten better each week since I rolled my ankle, but definitely these past two weeks I’ve felt a lot more comfortable out there," he said.
“(I think I’m) reading the play better too, and just being more confident – because our back six are so good at working together, it gives me a lot of confidence to come off my man and impact.”
VFL senior coach Dan Jordan also praised Zerk-Thatcher, who has already been named an emergency this season as he closes in on an AFL debut.
“He’s been growing every week, especially after coming back from injury,” Jordan said.
“He’s now probably at the level he was prior to getting injured, where he was really knocking the door down to get into some AFL match committee selection.
“I think his last two games have been really solid and consistent in that format, and the challenge for him now is to keep that up so that can be his bar week in and week out – to perform at that level.”
Zerk-Thatcher will use part of the upcoming bye weekend to visit family at home in South Australia, and aims to come back mentally refreshed for the second half of the season.
Essendon VFL’s next match will be against Box Hill at Windy Hill from 2pm on Saturday, June 15.
Brooke Varney is in the final year of her Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree at RMIT University. As part of their strategic partnership, Essendon Football Club and RMIT University are committed to providing opportunities for students, staff, players and the wider community.
